City News

Mayor Purzycki Awards Over $31,000 in College Scholarships to 18 Wilmington High School Seniors

Post Date:07/11/2019 10:00 AM

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki awarded more than $31,000 in college scholarships last night during a ceremony at the Louis L. Redding City County Building. Eighteen high school seniors from Wilmington will each receive assistance from the City to help cover the cost of their college education.

“Our great solemn responsibility is to level the playing field so that everybody has the opportunity to go out there and take advantage of their God-given talents without having any undue impediments,” said Mayor Purzycki. “This is a small gesture on our part to be able to help you – parents and kids – along the way on this important endeavor in your lives. We’re grateful for you, we’re proud of you, we congratulate you, and we hope this will give us an opportunity to bask a little in the light of all of your future accomplishments.”

Mayor Purzycki said the young men and women selected for academic scholarships this year represent a cross-section of the best and brightest students in Wilmington. Each student received an award of $1,760.00. To be eligible for a Mayoral Scholarship, senior students must be a Wilmington resident, have a 2.5 GPA or better, and demonstrate leadership and a commitment to community service. Awardees also submitted an essay and other references.

Congratulations to the following scholarship students who are listed with their high schools and the colleges or universities they will attend:

Liliana Bifferato – Ursuline Academy
Manhattan College

Sascha Bretzger – The Charter School of Wilmington
Wellesley College

Lily Burke – Padua Academy
Drexel University

Caesar Cooper – Concord High School
Delaware State University

JaNiece Davis – St. George’s Technical High School
Neumann University

Antonia Dougherty – Ursuline Academy
University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music

Sophia Gulotti – Cab Calloway School of the Arts
Temple University

Taryn-Marie Jenkins – The Sanford School
Hampton University

Simone Josey – Mount Pleasant High School
North Carolina A&T State University

Cecilia Krienen – Padua Academy
Temple University

Robert Laws – Cab Calloway School of the Arts
Coastal Carolina University

Michael Lober – The Charter School of Wilmington
University of Oregon

Dizara Miller – Christiana High School
University of Delaware

Imena Robbins – Delcastle Technical High School
Morgan State University

The students heard an address this year from Keynote Speaker Blake Saunders, owner and creative director of Front Street Video Productions. Over the past five years, Blake has become one of the top creative wedding cinematographers on the east coast. Blake is also a motivational speaker who believes in growth and success through one’s failures. As a Delaware native, Blake is active with youth throughout the state and has coined the popular phrase of ‘Taking Over the World’, which means the active pursuit of one’s dreams and goals.

The 2019 class of Mayoral Scholarship awardees attended public, charter, private and parochial schools and included a gamut of intended fields of study, ranging from sciences to communications, history to ballet, and aviation to business. Equally varied are their areas of leadership and service. Many are captains of sports teams and many more lead service and academic clubs.

The recipients were selected by a committee named by the Mayor to review their credentials. The group included Earl Cooper, Tiffany Christopher and Ashley Christopher who are employed in the Mayor’s Office, J.J. Francis, Outreach Coordinator for U.S. Senator Chris Coons, and Wilmington’s Auditor Terence Williams.